We'll be traveling from south of Munich to the Mosel valley next September. We plan to stay in the Black Forest somewhere for a night en route. Any suggestions for small and/or quaint places to stay?
Also, any suggestiosn for where to stay along the Mosel? We want to be centrally located for day trips to Trier, Koblenz, and the area. We'll be in the Mosel valley four days and want to stay in one location - again quaint, friendly, and small would be ideal.
Thanks.
First, where to stayed on the Mosel. In November, I stayed in Treis (half of Treis-Karden), between Koblenz and Cochem in Gästezimmer Löhr. They have two double rooms on the third floor of a private residence. The rooms are nice, clean, large; one has a kitchenette. If it matters, they speak English.
Yes, Cochem is better situated for Trier, but Treis-Karden is small and quaint. T-K less than 15 minutes north of Cochem, and, if you use a Rheinland-Pfalz ticket to Trier, it costs the same.
As for the Schwarzwald, Freudenstadt is a nice town between Stuttgart and Baden-Baden/Karlsruhe. Nearby is the town of Alpirsbach - definitely small and quaint. From Pforzheim, you can go up one of two river valleys - the Enz to Bad Wildbad or the Nagold to Calw (birthplace of Herman Hesse). Both are pituresque towns.
Beilstein! It's heavenly. Best if you're traveling by car; otherwise day trips can get a little complicated.
Beilstein is nice, but VERY small. It's suitable for a two hour visit, but not enough there, IMO, for a long stay. It is also off way the beaten track for accessiblility. There is so much nice to see within reach of the trains and buses on the Mosel; no need to go out of your way to make it necessary to spend more renting a car.
Black Forest: Schiltach is gorgeous. Lovely half-timbered buildings. Calw is similar, a bit larger, also very nice. You might like Hinterzarten too. All 3 have train stations. There are other nice towns too. Check these places to see if they'd work with your route to the Mosel.
Cochem is approximately mid-way between Trier and Koblenz and along with Bullay Koblenz has the best train connections on the river. It has a lot of dining and sightseeing options that smaller towns like Beilstein - which really barely qualifies as a town - do not. Cochem is my favorite town and probably represents the best choice for most visitors for a 4-day stay.
Beilstein may be an option if you have a car (no train station) and if you seek real peace and quiet. But it is VERY small. If staying in Cochem, Beilstein is a 1-hour boat ride away. It's a lovely trip and something you'd probably enjoy.
I too vote for Cochem. We stayed this past July for 3 nights and loved it! I had pictured more a smaller town like Bacharach, so was a bit surprised it was larger, but a perfect size.
We "splurged" a bit and stayed at the Hotel Lohspeicher and loved it! They are such a charming and hospitable couple and the hotel is in a good location.
The day we arrived we took the boat to Beilstein for a late lunch and though it was beautiful, the 2 hours there were plenty. We also took a day trip down to Trier (45-60 min by train) and had planned to do the Burg Eltz visit another day, but decided to just hang around town all day.
Also recommend the wine tasting at Rademacher. He was very friendly and loved talking about wine...and the wine was very good!
We would definitely return to Cochem again.
Hi,
Another "vote" for Cochem. It's a very nice old town and at night it was simply beautiful with the castle lit up overlooking it. We actually stayed in Valwig, which is just over the bridge (over the Mosel) from Cochem, for 4 nights in Oct. '07. We visited Trier, Bernakastel, Beilstein, Zell and Burg Eltz during our stay.
If interested, we stayed at (and can highly recommend) the Hotel Rebenhof in Valwig.
and we have photo's at:
www.worldisround.com/home/pja1/index.html
Hope this helps.
Paul
Thanks for all the great advice. It looks like Cochem in the Mosel Valley is the number one choice, and the pictures from Paul reinforce that!
Since we will be traveling by car, we should't have to worry about transportation since we'll have all options - boat, train, car - open to us.
Thanks again for the tremendous - and speedy - feedback.
Charlie- Just a little "heads up". We were in the Mosel Valley the end of September in 2001. We actually stayed in Zell, but traveled to Cochem for a visit. They were having an "Octoberfest" style event that week end and the place was "over run" with people. While we usually enjoy finding a local festival, this was so miserable that we left after about an hour. You don't say what part of the month or what days you will be there, but you might want to see if there is a Cochem web site and what dates they are planning their festival-just in case. We did enjoy Zell, although it does not cater to tourists the way Cochem does. That was ok with us as that was what we were looking for. I asked one of the few English speaking men we met if they got many Americans in Zell. He laughed and said only a few and they always have a Rick Steves book with them.
